Lace
by Popo-Licious
Summary: Five years have passed since the disbandment of the Super Smash League, yet friendships of old still live on, and only blossom moreso at the Champion's Reunion. When Zelda stumbles upon an old friend in need, will love grow between them? RoyxZeldaxLink
1. Prologue

**_Author's Note:_** Hello, everyone! It's been a long, long time since I last posted here. Two years, actually. I used to be known as _FIREmblemFAN_, but times have changed and I have vastly improved the quality of my writing, so here I am, under a new pen name. With introductions out the way, please enjoy _Lace_! Comments are much appreciated, and I will gladly reply to them. _All characters and places belong exclusively to Nintendo; all situations belong to Popo-Licious._

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Lace

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_**To Her Majesty, Queen Zelda Harkinian of Hyrule**_

_On behalf of the Super Smash League, the honor of your presence is requested at the First Annual Champion's Reunion, celebrating five years since the disbandment of the participants of the original Super Smash Brothers Melee Tournament. Starting upon the Sixteenth of May at precisely nine o'clock in the morning, former champions are encouraged to reunite at the Super Smash League campus for food, drink, merriment, battle, and nostalgia. Overnight lodging will be provided, as will transportation for those who may need it. The celebration will end upon the Nineteenth of May at eight o'clock in the evening._

_We hope you will join us in the festivities!_

_Sincerely,_

_The Super Smash League_

* * *

Folding the invitation delicately, Zelda Harkinian, utmost ruler of Hyrule, dropped her hands to her lap and smiled at Impa, her beloved friend and nursemaid. "What do you think?" she asked eagerly. "May I attend?" 

"Of course you may, Your Majesty."

The young girl blushed bashfully and made a face at the women across from her. "Please... You must call me Zelda, or even _dear princess_, just like you used to when I was a child."

"You will _always_ be a child to me, Princess." Impa smiled, rising from her seat by the door and making her way to a window overlooking the courtyard bellow. Spring was all around; flowers bloomed, birds sung, and the sun found its way further and further to the eastern horizon, stretching the days continually longer. "Link will accompany you, I take it?"

"Oh, yes—of course! I wouldn't dream of attending the reunion without him. We had such fun participating in the Smash League," she reminisced. "I should very much like to catch up with everyone after being separated for so long."

"You have grown much in these five years," the Sheikah commented, silhouette black against the blinding azure sky. The castle was unexplainably dark during the daytime hours, despite the sunlight streaming in through the open windows.

"What do you mean?"

"You have ascended to the throne in your father's footsteps with all the grace and poise of a true noblewoman. They will notice, your friends. They will see that you have changed vastly since they last saw you."

"Oh, Impa..." Zelda rose and stood beside her caretaker. "I may be queen, but I am still the same girl I've always been. Silly, stubborn, irksome, and best of all," the young ruler reasoned, "childish to a fault. You know as well as anyone else that I only act my proper age when necessary." She grinned, biting her bottom lip, thinking about all the mischief she could incur that morning.

"You are all of those things, yes, yet you forget that you are also responsible when need be, benevolent, giving, and level-headed." Impa touched a finger to her surrogate daughter's chin and pointed to the sun with another. "Sol is but a candle to your brilliance, Princess."

Zelda was without words upon hearing the candid and heartening nature of her nanny's speech. It was all she could do to smile and ask politely, "Won't you leave me for a moment? I must get dressed at once and contact Link. Surely he has received a letter by now as well."

"Yes, Your Highness." Impa gave a short, quick bow and winked at her noble protégée, softly shutting the door behind her as she left Zelda to tend to her wardrobe.

"Perhaps I _have_ changed," she mused aloud, seating herself in a downy corner armchair and folding her silken robs snuggly around her form. She read the invitation one last time and smiled.

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	2. Chapter One

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**_Lace_**

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"Oh, Link!" the young queen squealed, clutching tight to her escort's arm. "I'm so excited to be back. Everything looks just as I remember it!" 

As the pair strolled up the walk, approaching the towering registration hall, Zelda couldn't help but smile fondly at all the memories flooding back to her conscious. A single bell chimed gently at the mercy of the wind, swaying freely above the old brick hall and warming the queen's soul to the core. She recalled the many times prior in which she had heard the very same bell exclaim the start of a new day, such a long time ago.

Ivy had grown thick and strong against the side of the edifice, crawling sluggishly towards the cross-gabled rooftops and slipping silently through the panel-less windows and into the open hall. A cool breeze ruffled Zelda's cloak; she could hear the Earth moving—growing—in the stillness of it all.

"Such a humbling experience," she murmured decidedly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Link. But please! Let us hurry!" She laughed and tugged him forward by the hand at a quickened pace. "We mustn't be late!"

They crossed the threshold of the ancient vestibule and entered a world of laughter and delight. All around were people of different status, race and disposition, joyously bound together once more by the Super Smash League and its subtle magic. The queen could see many an old face as she slowly entered the room, along with some new ones that she found herself quite unfamiliar with.

"It's seems that many of our peers have brought guests with them," Link commented mildly, slightly less enthused than Zelda upon surveying the bustling crowd. "If only we had thought to do the same. Impa would have enjoyed this, I think."

"Indeed, she would have. Perhaps she will accompany us next time around," Zelda remarked vaguely as a blue Pokemon with a crooked tail clambered over her feet, all the while chanting in animal-like gibberish. "Do you see anyone we know?" The blonde maiden looked up to her companion hopefully, childlike whimsy dancing in her eyes.

"No one to note at present, but perhaps we might see who's in attendance at registration?"

She nodded optimistically at the idea. "I do hope Marth and Roy will be coming. Wonderful penpals as they are, I fear that their absence has left me quite empty in spirit."

Link chuckled as his imperial charge approached the registration table hurriedly, greeting Ness and his accompanying friends, Paula and Jeff, along the way. The children darted past her with a wave and soon after, disappeared into a vast sea of visitors.

"And the verdict?" Link inquired, peering over Zelda's shoulder at the long flap of parchment in her dainty hands. "Have our friend's arrived yet?"

She turned and met his gaze with a pure smile. "Both of them!" Touching a readied pen to the paper, she let out a small gasp as her name instantly drew itself from the depths of the parchment by its own means. "Fascinating," she tittered, charmed. "And it even knows I've changed titles. Look--"

"Queen Zelda Harkinian of Hyrule," the elfin warrior read aloud proudly. "_Former_ Princess." He took the stylus from his queen's grasp and gently tapped the paper, instantly getting a reaction. "Sir Link of Hyrule, Hero of Time." He beamed inwardly, seeing such regalia following his name.

"Fanciful, isn't it?" commented a voice from behind.

"Marth!" Zelda looked up to see his smiling face and leapt into his arms, allowing the blue-haired prince to whirl her around once before setting her down before him.

"I believe it's been far too long, my princess. Or is it _queen_ now?" he asked with a hearty chuckle.

"I'm not a little girl anymore," she insisted spiritedly, giving his shoulder a weak punch. "You'd do well to respect my presence, _Prince_."

"You're right. You aren't a little girl anymore." Marth placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are Hyrule's one true ruler and I expect the very best from you, Your Majesty. And you, Link." He turned to face The Hero of Time and gave him a smile. "Surely you're still living up to your title?"

"Naturally." They embraced briefly, firmly grasping each other's forearm comradely.

"Please, Marth. Where is Roy?"

A soft, mellow voice met her question. "Just behind you, milady."

The former princess turned, and sure enough, there was her beloved red-headed Lord, all smiles upon seeing her.

"Oh, Roy!" She hugged him immediately, throwing her arms around the neck of her old friend. "My, you've grown!"

"Good goddesses above, Roy!" laughed Link. "You're as tall as I am now!"

The younger man blushed lightly and patted Zelda's shoulder as he pulled out of her grasp. "I shall take that as a high compliment coming from you, Link." He nodded his head briefly and looked around the room. "I see you've found Marth…"

"We crossed paths not more than a moment ago," the blunette mentioned happily. "It feels just like old times, doesn't it? Being back here in this old barn, all of us together." A bird cooed loudly from the rafters and Zelda stifled a laugh; everything seemed twice as funny under her giddy demeanor.

"Tell me, Your Majesty," ventured the prince. "What have you been up to these last few weeks?"

Zelda opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as Roy interjected. "You'll excuse me, won't you?" Not waiting for a reply, the red-head bowed out of the conversation and wandered into the crowd.

"You must forgive his curt behavior," Marth begged quietly, solemnly. "He is not himself."

"Our young friend wears black," commented Link. "Why?"

"I am under his oath not to tell you, yet it is against my morals to keep such a glaring secret from friends as treasured as you. His father, the beloved Lord Eliwood of Pherae, passed away no more than a fortnight ago."

Zelda gave a startled gasp and put a hand to her mouth, the other over her heart. "The poor man…" she murmured, not differentiating as to whether she spoke of Roy or his father.

"He had been ailing for many a moon, suffering in bed until his final day, when he left this world and sought his late Dame Fiora in heaven above. Roy tried so very hard to prepare himself for the inevitable... He imagined that he would be glad to see his father at peace, yet it has not been so. Roy is heartbroken and empty and I fear his heavy grieving is destroying his spirit. It pains me to see him so desolate when he has always been such a jovial character."

"I am without words," whispered Link drearily. "I cannot even begin to fathom the pain he must be experiencing. I lost my parent's just after birth, as you know. But Roy—he has known only his father in his twenty summers on Earth. Lord Eliwood was his only family, was he not?"

"He was indeed Roy's only living relative."

"I must go," stated Zelda abruptly and urgently, having been silent for quite some time.

"But—"

"Please excuse me." She bolted, a woman on a mission, nudging her way through the mass of guests crowding the center of the hall. The door opposite her led to the centermost region of the Super Smash League Campus—the courtyard—the merging point of all other campus facilities. From the large fountain in the middle of the square, one could reach the dorms, the arenas, the mess hall and even the gardens upon following the correct path.

As she glanced around, the heels of her shoes gently clacking against the brick below her, Zelda felt the same eerie sensation she experienced prior to the entrance hall, a feeling of peace, of the world growing beneath her. Sun shot through the trees every which way, heavy foliage surrounding the courtyard from above like a great, leafy dome.

She paused, looking past the cascades of water tumbling from the fountain and spied a familiar tuft of auburn hair just visible above the rim of the basin. She approached Roy quietly from the side and stood before him, watching as he shuffled his feet against the ground, head hung low, back pressed hard against the bench of the fountain.

"I wondered why you stopped writing," she started softly.

He looked up at her, mildly surprised, and nodded his head. "You have spoken with Marth, then, I presume."

The young ruler sat down beside her friend and rested an arm around his shoulder, taking one of his gloved hands in her own. Unabashed, Roy fell into her form as though the five years time between their last meeting had never transpired, as though they were still youths, still insecure about themselves and their ability to face the situations handed to them by fate, Roy the young general of his father's army, and Zelda, a princess forced to rule a war-torn country in her exiled father's stead.

They held each other like that for a lingering moment, so many words going unspoken as actions said all there was to say. Zelda coddled Roy in comfort, running her fingers through his lengthened hair as the young lord fought away his boyish tears. Finally, he looked up at her, mustering a weak, despairing smile. "Will you walk the gardens with me, dear Zelda?"

"Of course, Your Grace."

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And there we are! To be continued...! 


	3. Chapter Two

_Silver Noise:_ I'm glad you like my portrayal of Zelda! I was a little worried that she'd seem too out of character or too childish, yet I wanted her to be something of a spirited, uplifting character, one who might be able to support Roy in his time of need. Thank you for your kind comments!

_Herr Wozzeck:_ Awww... You're too kind, Art! FESS authors unite!

_cerberus angel:_ I'm glad that Roy/Zelda is starting to gain a little momentum. It's definitely an overlooked pairing, and I for one think it has quite a bit of potential. I'll try not to fail your expectations!

_Michieru Berujironu:_ I don't know how to help you with the anonymous review issue, but thanks for commenting! I think I may have watched A&E's _Pride and Prejudice_ the night before I started writing this, which would explain the dialogue...!

_Unknown 2008:_ Chapter three is here! Rejoice!

_Jacky-The-Ripper:_ I'm absolutely honored by your kind praise, truly. Thanks for giving me the kick-in-the-pants I needed to keep on writing!

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**_Lace_**

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"I hope you have been fairing well, Your Majesty. It has been quite sometime since our last correspondence, and even longer since we've spoken face to face." Roy paused thoughtfully and glanced down at his boots, smiling. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Roy. I've been lonesome without your company, though Link has kept me more than amused," she chuckled.

Footfalls stumbled together in clumsy harmony as the path before them narrowed and the light from the sun was dimmed by nature's canopy. Zelda timidly gripped the young lord's forearm, relishing in the starched crispness of his doublet's sleeves, and the faint traces of sea-air and brine on his cape. A pink blossom, spent of life, fell under her toes, and she sighed contently.

"I had intended for us to have met again under more pleasurable circumstances, however I did not anticipate my father's passing when I gave correspondence to the Smash League's invitation."

"And yet you are honorable enough to attend just the same, and for that I admire your courage," she commended gently. "A lesser man would have gone back on his word."

"My father would have wanted me to be here," he reasoned, looking up towards the path ahead. "He always frowned heavily upon wallowing in sadness; he was that sort of man..." It was as though Roy was caught between joyous reminiscence and utter agony at the recollection of his father's spirit; the delightful memories conjuring in his mind's eye, bested by the sting of absence rotting in his heart.

A warm wind blew as the birds beckoned for companions in choral rounds. Zelda turned to her guide and brushed the back of her hand to his face, softly, almost languidly, allowing her knuckles to ghost across his earlobe and trace wisps of stray hair. The noble looked down at her, curiosity glinting in his sapphire eyes.

"Something was sparkling on your cheek," she said softly. Whether it was a tear, or the twinkling remnants of a wayward star, she did not care to decipher. Zelda held silent for a time, before parting her lips to speak again. "I'm proud of you." Her voice was low and solemn, skin glowing sage and cream in the diluted light of the garden. "You have grown strong in heart and mind where you were once so unsure and so afraid."

Resting on a time-weather bench, still wet with morning dew, Roy frowned. "You're Majesty?"

Zelda sat silently beside him. It was than that she noticed for the first time that the circlet he wore upon his brow was not his own, but one that she assumed, belonged to his father. It was made solely of rich, shimmering gold, Spartan in design, but elegant all the same.

"I…" The auburn-haired monarch wilted in his seat, shoulders caving in upon his chest, further crushing his heart as he gave an exasperated whimper. "I feel… lost, and helpless," he concluded softly. "And so very empty—as though I've been robbed of life as I've always known it."

"Won't you explain?" She knew almost instinctively what he meant, yet implored him to continue, hoping his feelings might find escape in her empathetic company.

"Father and I—we were always a team," he said simply. "Though he was Pherae's true lord, I was permitted to make decisions alongside him in order to prepare for my future as his successor. But now that he is no longer beside me, it feels as though the weight of the Earth lays burden upon my shoulders, as though the pressure of the world is closing in upon my very soul. And… it forces me to question my existence as ruler. It frightens me."

He paused here before continuing; the queen beside him had grasped his hand in silent comfort, tracing the fine stitching of his lily-white gloves with her thumb as her eyes spoke encouragement.

"Since Father's passing, my mind has been clouded with nothing but vague understandings of politics and trade and so much else that I was not taught when I was abroad at school. Perhaps it was in blessed Saint Elimine's designs to take Father from me, but I wish with so much regret that he might have held on long enough to prepare me in entirety for my role as Pherae's sovereign."

"But you have proven time and again that you are a capable, _benevolent_ ruler, Roy. You've made countless choices affecting Pherae's politics in the past, choices that have gone as far as affecting the outcome of your entire country—Lycia. Why do you discredit your worth when your people sing such praise to you?"

"I fear I have relied too heavily on my father's presence in the past, Your Majesty. What maters I could not comprehend on my own, or did not have the skills to handle, I gave to him, and he saw to them with grace and due speed." Roy gave a hard, audible gulp and shook his head. "I… I should have paid more attention. I should have listened to him more often, should have taken advantage of the guidance he offered so freely."

"Roy—"

"I was foolhardy to think he would remain at my side forever; Father had been ailing for so many years..."

"You cannot blame yourself for actions beyond your control."

"But—"

Zelda put a finger to his lips and he quickly silenced himself, waiting intently to hear what she could not withhold. "You are overwhelmed," she stated plainly, "and I would think it unusual for you to be anything otherwise. You are just twenty-years, Roy, and while you have seen so much of the world already, there are still so many things that await you, some you have prepared for, and some you have not. No one expected you to have all the answers to all the problems the moment you were crowned, and if I know your people and your loved ones as well as I think I do—from your words—then they certainly do not demand this of you now, not so soon and not from a lord so young."

Roy gently rested his head against her shoulder, and again, she welcomed his presence with understanding and a soft touch. "Does…" He took a sharp intake of breath and wet his lips, voice no more than a whisper to her ear. "…Does the loneliness ever stop? Does it ever go away?" He was quivering.

Vague allusions to King Harkinian's death a few years prior did not escape Zelda's mental grasp. Roy's words prompted suppressed memories of meaningless condolences, the scent of foreign flowers and rain perfuming the halls of Hyrule castle with no beauty and little charm. She recalled the icy indifference she felt to nearly everyone and everything around her as she wallowed in loneliness, feeling abandoned and unprepared to face her destiny as future queen. She had suffered then; just as Roy suffered now, she knew too well the stone laid heavy upon his heart, and the confusion that left his eyes bleary with tears and remorse.

"It subsides," she answered slowly, "yet it does not go away entirely."

He sighed heavily and nodded. "As I feared…"

"But I promise you, from the very depths of my heart, that it gets better. Truly, it does. You will not feel this way forever, though I am unable to predict how long this pain will last. I… did not share the close bond with my father that you enjoyed with yours, much to my regret." She lifted his chin with the edge of her forefinger and smiled down at him. "You must quell your fears, milord, for they will only hinder you and the path that you seek."

"My… path?" he queried.

"The path you must walk to become Pherae's finest ruler, and live up to the expectations your father no doubt set aside for you." She squeezed his hand. "You were entrusted as his heir because of your abilities, Roy. He would not have allowed you to struggle if he thought you were incapable of succeeding his rule."

"I… I had not thought of it that way before," he stated quietly. "You make a valid point; Father would not be so cruel as to leave me to flounder on my own. Perhaps… I have confused my personal feelings with business…"

She grinned, stroking his hair softly. "Everything will fall into place in due time; it always does, my dear friend. You'll see. But until then, I beg of you to stay strong, if not for yourself, than for your country, and if not for your country, than for me."

He rose from his seat noiselessly, hands clasped behind his back as he paced in a circle. Zelda watched him with mild interest and faint amusement, until finally, his lean figure stopped just short of her toes. A hand came to rest on either side of her shoulders, each pushing hard against the back of the bench as he looked down upon her, sunlight filtering around his silhouette in great, salient beams. Back arced like a languorous cat, face drenched in shade and secrecy, he leaned forward and leisurely pressed a delicate kiss to her forehead. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

He departed the garden soon after, cheeks ablaze with a hot blush and his cape a dark storm cloud billowing behind him.

Zelda finally stood, a placid smile adorning her face as she spied Link approaching her from the Great Hall.

"Ahh! I've been looking all over for you!" His voice sounded positively boisterous against Roy's quiet and dapper tones; it took her by surprise.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Link!" She laughed as he handed her a single flower of an unknown variety.

"I wanted to give this to you. It was too lovely to pass up and the poor thing was all bent out of shape, so I rescued it," he stated matter-of-factly.

"It's beautiful! I only wish I knew what it was! I would plant hundreds of them in Hyrule this spring if I only had a name to go by."

Link chuckled. "Then we must uncover it's identity as soon as possible, preferably before it withers. Your Majesty?" He extended an arm, which she gladly took.

"Ever the gentlemen."

Together, they adjourned to the Great Hall, Link discussing his proceedings with Mario as Zelda contemplated Roy's impossibly long eyelashes.


End file.
